UK Wedding Facts

What You Need to Know

Religious Ceremonies

Church of England

It was law that you could only marry in your parish church, now the rules have been changed so that you can marry in the church of your choosing, as long as you, or your parents, or grandparents have a connection to that church. (The church I’m getting married in, for example, my parents married there, I was christened and confirmed there, and I went to the school connected to the church.

Roman Catholic

You or your h2b must have been baptised in a Catholic church and be free to marry. You also have to give notice of your intention to marry at the local superintendent registrar at your local town hall or council office and obtain your licence.

Jewish Ceremonies

You will need to make two applications to have a Jewish wedding, one to the local registrar and one to the religious authority your church falls under. Ceremonies can take place in a church or a civil venue, but remember that Jewish weddings do not take place on a Saturday.

Civil Ceremonies

Registrar Weddings 

Civil weddings can be booked no later than 17 days before the wedding and no earlier than 12 months before. When you book your wedding, you and your fiancé must both give notice to marry to the superintendent registrar at the town hall or council office and they will then issue you with a common notice to marry.

Civil Ceremony Buildings

At the moment, outside venues are unlikely to be approved for weddings unless they have a permanent structure in which the wedding could be held. A wedding licence can be issued to any building which is open to the public, so private homes are unlikely to be approved. As with a registrar wedding, you will need to give notice of your intention to marry.

Weddings Abroad

Overseas!

As long as you are of the UK legal age to marry, and are free to marry then weddings abroad are legal in the UK. Some countries require you to reside in their country for a certain amount of time before you can get married there, sometimes between one and seven days, and you will need all the relevant documents but you can ring the embassy of the country in which you wish to wed to find out what you need.